


How To Use Death To Make Someone Fall In Love With You

by empressofthelight



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Hux Is Pretty Sure The Universe Hates Him, M/M, The Universe Really Does Hate Ben, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-06-03 07:13:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6601696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empressofthelight/pseuds/empressofthelight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Correction. That was yours.” Rey smirked and climbed into the passenger seat. “It’s mine now. You were the one that left it behind. Finders keepers.”</p><p>If looks could kill she’d be dust, but reality didn’t work that way. Right now his reality consisted of being shoved into the back of HIS hummer and transported to HIS town to be pillaged like the rest of the desolate piles of rubble Rey and her men normally searched through. Three months ago he had everything. He never should have made that deal with the devil. That was how this all started. </p><p>Yeah...death was better. Maybe as a zombie he could take them all out; become a Zombie overlord and command hordes of rotting flesh and bone to infest the towns of the living until the entire world crumbled at his decaying feet. “Go to hell.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hyoid Bone

**Author's Note:**

> A special thank you to my alpha reader, Silace. She is amazing, and if it weren't for her, I wouldn't be writing this. Thank you mwah!

Hux hated having guns pointed at his head. A common occurrence as of late, despite 90% of the entire earth’s population being unable to even hold a firearm. He especially hated people holding a gun to his head that he knew, and he knew this woman fairly well. Rey had caught him several times before and had pointed guns at his head SEVERAL times before, but this time he knew was his last time. Rey actually saved his life this time. Nothing made his skin crawl more than knowing that.

“Everyone’s dead Hux. Just tell us where it is.”

“I don’t know why you're trying to interrogate him, Rey. He can talk his way out of a paper bag.” Finn glared at him, his rifle slack in his hands. “He’s only going to lie to you.”

“Death is pretty persuasive, Finn.”

Hux laughed. He couldn’t help it. Death? Persuasive? Since when? “Look. If you want the food, go find it yourself. You’re a smart girl with a pretty face, I’m sure you can figure it out.”

Rey scowled. “The last town you destroyed, you locked it into a self destructing tunnel beneath the town and four good people died trying to get into it.”

“Casualty of war.”

“We are not at war.”

Hux leaned forward, his forehead almost touching the barrel of her gun. “We are at a constant state of war. Look outside. We are losing.”

He grinned with fire in his eyes at the twitch in her face. She always wore her heart on her sleeve and he loved to prey on it. The tension between them continued to build until the end of her gun began to shake. “This is the last time I’m going to ask you nicely,” she muttered, attempting what she thought was a commanding voice. “Tell us where the town's food supply is hidden.”

Hux’s grin widened and he reclined back in his seat, the chain from his handcuffs clinking together. “No.”

“Just give me the gun and I’ll kill him.” A new voice added to the conversation, pulling Hux’s attention to it. “He’s of no use to anyone.”

“Rey’s got this, Ren.” Finn reiterated, rounding Rey’s side. “Worse comes to worse we feed him to the bone bags.”

When ‘Ren’ stepped into view, Hux was surprised. This man was not the type they normally carted around with them and he wondered if ‘Ren’ was another ‘victim’ they had collected on the side of the road. Anyone could see his itch to act, to fight, to kill. He wanted to kill Hux; that was something he could work with. Hux licked his dry lips to say something snide, but then Rey’s face lit up like the noonday sky. Shit.

“Finn...that’s a great idea!” She dropped the gun to her side, bolted around Ren and out of the classroom.

Ren and Finn’s eyes followed after her, resting their gaze impatiently on the doorway of the room in the broken down school building they now used as a base. Hux felt himself being pulled from curiosity to find out what the hell the girl was talking about but the great desire to save his own ass overrode that. Finn idiotically cuffed his hands in the front of him, making it easy to move and escape if he so desired. To be completely honest, that scared Hux the most. The only reason to cuff a prisoner so foolishly would be because you intended to kill them. He glanced towards the door to his right and then back at the pair; he knew from past ‘arrests’ that it lead to the roof. That door was his best chance of escape. He gripped the chain between the cuffs to keep it silent and inched out of the seat, his eyes never leaving the pair of men staring at the doorway.

Hux managed to crouch near the doorway out of the desk chair before ‘Ren’ turned around, locking eyes with him. With experienced agility, Hux whirled around and bolted through the door, ‘Ren’ hot on his tail.  He couldn’t make out a single word of what Finn and Rey were shouting because of the loud clanging from Ren and his steps on the metal staircase. Bursting through the door at the top of the stairs and squinting from the sunlight, Hux grinned. Just a few more steps and he would be…

“Gotcha!”

Out of nowhere something hit him with the force of a mack truck, knocking him to the ground. “Urgh…”

From the ground, he saw Ren standing a foot away from him. His eyes still locked on Hux. Despite running up several flights of stairs, his breathing was not labored like Hux’s was. This guy was tough and malicious. He just couldn’t find people like that anymore. If he were in any where else, this man would be a great enemy or a great ally, but now he was just in the way.

Rey and Finn weren’t far behind Ren, and when they burst through the door Finn could not contain his laughter. “Poe, man, you are my hero!”

“Do you have him, Poe?” Rey moved quickly around Ren to kneel beside them.

He tried to struggle but knew it was useless. If he had any doubts before, now he was certain he was going to die. “Will you just kill me and get it over with so I don’t have to listen to your cackling any longer?”

Rey helped Poe lift Hux to his feet, but Poe never let go of his arms. She shook her head in displeasure, despite a soft smirk pulling at her lips. “No. You are going to take us to the food supply. If The Dead catch you...no loss for us.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Killing you now would be a waste of bullets and we can’t afford to waste them. This is war remember?”

Hux made one last attempt to pull out of Poe’s grip, if for no other reason than a final act of defiance. Rey remained unimpressed, as he knew she would be, Finn flinched, as he knew he would, and Ren...he was gone. The absence wasn't noteworthy and Hux assumed nothing of it, until Poe yanked him backwards. “Damn it! Where did he go?”

“Finn could yo-” Rey began.

“On it.”

Hux didn’t have a chance to figure out what was going on, Poe yanked him back again then pushed him through a different door way.  “Rey...We can’t lose him again.”

“I know Poe.”

“I can track him down again but…” Hux cringed from the tightened grip on his arms when Poe continued. “We have this bastard to deal with. I can lock him downstairs.”

“Take him to the cell and then meet me upstairs.” Rey ordered, before disappearing behind them.

Hux walked; there wasn’t much else he could do. The cell Rey spoke of was actually the school supply room in the basement. The building was old and falling apart but this room remained intact and solid. The second Poe shut and locked the huge metal door, Hux whirled around to take in his surroundings.He felt around in the dark for a light switch, only to find it did nothing. Of course the electricity wasn’t working in the dilapidated building. Hux hadn’t expected them to figure that much out. Although, he felt it was more out of laziness than anything else. Some light did manage to sift into the room from the slits of what used to be basement windows high on the cement walls. They were covered mostly in debris, two even had bars still covering them. The glow of the sun barely filtered through the thick, dusty air, but kicking around in the dimly lit room did do one thing for him; it let him think.

Ren's absence had rattled the small group and that was an interesting development for Hux. The more he thought about it the more it started to make sense. Could ‘Ren’ actually be ‘Ben’? The guy that has a reward/bounty on his head in at least four settlements that Hux had been to. If it was, the man was valuable…but more importantly...he was a prisoner. The wheels and gears in his head spun like mad. Hux could talk Ren into helping him escape. That wouldn’t be too difficult considering both of them wanted freedom. It would also insure that Rey and her devoted sycophants didn’t get to his food supply so that he could easily start a new town AND give him perfect fodder if everything went south.

Running his foot into something fairly solid, which he realized was a chair, Hux stopped searching around and sat down. The only thing missing from his plan was Ren. Hopefully Rey could manage that at least.

\---------  


The first loud boom and clattering of a supply shelf falling over filled with old paint cans and lord knows what, startled Hux awake. He reflexively feared the worse; Rey really intended to let him be eaten alive. The second and third loud clangs, however, revealed that it was not a zombie who made so much noise; it was Ren. Hux stared into the darkness at Ren while he destroyed the entire far corner of the supply room, the entire thing, with...what the hell was that in his hand? A ruler? Hux watched on with amusement, still trying to figure out what the hell Ren was using to beat the poor central furnace unit to death with. What had that the furnace ever done to him? The more he watched the more amusing it became. He acted like a small child told to stay in their room with no supper. Part of him really wished the lights worked. He’d be laughing out loud now if they were, he was sure of that, and he’d also know what the hell was in this room that could withstand being pounded into steel like it was.

After a while, Ren slowed down-then stopped. Hux waited a moment and counted to 30 in his head before speaking. “Are you finished?”

Ren turned his head just enough for Hux to make out the glint of light reflecting off his eyes, but didn’t respond.

“Good. I believe there’s another chair around here somewhere...only if you’re finished, of course.”

He didn’t move or respond again, but Hux wasn’t worried. Pulling a sad looking box over in front of him, he propped his feet up and leaned back in the uncomfortable metal chair. “Suit yourself.”

Hux folded his arms behind his head and tried to ignore the metal cuffs still on his wrists while grinning. It didn’t take long and he knew it wouldn't; Ren trudged over and kicked around a few of the things near him. Threw a box or two, but eventually found another chair and sat down. Hux waited; he had nothing else to do.

“Why are you so calm? They are sending you to your death in a couple hours.”

“Then I better get some sleep now before you start destroying another part of the room, huh Ben?”

Ren didn’t respond and Hux wished he could see the look on his face.

 

\--------

 

The morning sun took it’s time breaking over the horizon, but Hux wasn’t sure if it was to spite him or give him more time. He was wide awake when the rusty lock clicked open on the metal door. Poe Dameron cleared his throat and motioned for them both to come to the door. “Let’s get this over with, I don’t want any trouble from either of you. Especially you _Ben_.”

Hux stood and crossed the room, holding his cuffed hands out in front of him. “Do we really need these, Dameron?”

Poe shrugged. “Boss lady insists.”

Ren followed behind them out of the room, upstairs and out of the school entirely. Rey, Finn, and four others stood out front, near a beat up jeep and a hummer. The hummer Hux recognized. “That’s mine!”

“Correction. That _was_ yours.” Rey smirked and climbed into the passenger seat. “It’s mine now. You were the one that left it behind. Finders keepers.”

If looks could kill she’d be dust, but reality didn’t work that way. Right now his reality consisted of being shoved into the back of HIS hummer and transported to his town to be pillaged like the rest of the desolate piles of rubble Rey and her men normally searched through. With every passing moment he regretted listening to his damn second in command more and more. The constant whining: ‘We need more food’, ‘winter time here is really intense, we should have a stock of food’ or, his personal favorite, ‘Snoke is giving out food at a price. Maybe we should talk to him.’ He hoped that bastard got what he wanted. Not that he could remember the guy’s name, but he remembered his face; twisted and _hungry_. He could have all the food in the world now, but this time he’d have to run for it.

“Where should we stop, Hux? The zombies aren’t over there. Is that close?” Poe shouted over the roar of the engine.

Hux leaned forward over Poe’s shoulder to better see out of the dust covered windshield. “Yes it’s close, but never assume Flesh bags don’t hover around there,” he pointed towards a fallen building. “See that? There waiting for us.”

Rey and Poe both squinted and leaned forward. If anyone else were driving, Hux would have been concerned. “Shit...he’s right.”

“Well...well how are we going to get anything?” Rey huffed.

Hux leaned back and glanced at Ren. Who continued to stare past Rey into the dusty windshield, focused on whatever he could see through it. Other than his intent scowl, Ren didn’t react to the realization that they were going to be dragged into fighting a ton of zombies. He didn’t seem afraid or apprehensive at all. Hux wasn’t really sure how he felt about it either. He had more riding on this than a simple pile of food.

Finn lurched forward, practically laying on top of Hux and Ren to grip Rey’s shoulder. “Hey we can go in through that way,” Hux elbowed him in the side and he retreated to the back, but not before he saw what Finn was pointing at. Fuck. “That warehouse looks perfect for storing food and it’s partially underground. That’s it I’m sure of it. Can I kill the fucker now?”

“No...but he might have something there…” Rey turned around in her seat. “Poe drive over there. Hux, this is your last chance.”

“There is no food there.” Hux rattled off.

“So there is SOMETHING there.” Poe glanced back over his shoulder and back, “I knew it. There is something there. Leia will want to know about this.”

In the time it took Poe to park the hummer and drag Hux out, he’d formulated a perfect plan to kill everyone. The only drawback being, every scenario he ran through in his head he'd end up dying too. Maybe that was better than having to explain to Snoke how he’d failed to hold up his end of their deal. Rey took ahold of his arm this time, pushing him forward with her gun pressed into the small of his back. “Open the door.”

Yeah...death was better. Maybe as a zombie he could take them all out; become a Zombie overlord and command hordes of rotting flesh and bone to infest the towns of the living until the entire world crumbled at his decaying feet. “Go to hell.”

Ren sighed and walked around all of them to the door. He tapped on the handle before kicking the whole thing in with a deafening bang. “Well, if the Flesh bags didn’t know we were here they certainly do now.” Rey spat.

“You wanted the door open.”

Rey and Finn both stared at Ren with slacked jaws, leaving Poe to be the only rational one. A dangerous thing at best. Poe grabbed ahold of Hux’s arm and pulled him up to the warehouse door. Ren stepped aside and Poe didn’t hesitate to throw Hux right into the dark warehouse. He landed on his elbows, which hurt like hell, but the pain was dulled compared to the sheer, overwhelming terror at being live bait. He screwed his eyes shut and refused to make a sound, not that it mattered. The warehouse was empty. Lifting his head, Hux scanned the room and saw everything as he’d left it, but it wasn’t food; it was the military grade weapons he salvaged from the military base near his town. It was his repayment to Snoke and the instant Rey and the others came in and saw it, he was a dead man breathing.

Not a moment later, the lights flickered on after a loud click from behind him. Hux looked back to see Ren and Poe standing at his knees, staring awestruck at the large room full of ammunition, guns, and other weapons of destruction. Rey, Finn and the others entered the room behind them, spreading out to explore more with the caution of experienced scavengers. Poe cleared his throat, becoming quite serious. “Keep your guard up everyone. There still might be stragglers.”

“Heavens...what were you planning with all of this?” Rey breathed in horror, but Hux only huffed in response.

Ren picked him up off the floor using more strength than he gave her credit for, and kept a hold onto him for whatever fucking reason. Hux wondered exactly what Ren’s relationship with the others really was but it was way too late to switch gears now. “You’ve found it, now let me go.”

Rey coughed, then snickered. “We came here for food.”

“There isn’t any.”

She scowled in disbelief. “There has to be. We saw the trucks from-”

“IT’S GONE! Did you see the fallen building that the zombies were swarming in? That’s where it was...it’s gone.”

Everyone stopped moving to stare at them. Hux could feel the disappointment and confusion in the room. They needed food that badly? Finn laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.  “Rey? What do you want to do?”

Rey looked into his eyes and they had some kind of moment of understanding before she pointed at the ammunition. “Grab what we can carry. We need to get out of here.”

Poe started to argue but even Ren cut his attempt down. So Hux was left to watch them dismantle the warehouse with a twisting stomach; too focused on losing everything to even consider bolting out of the door. Not that Ren would have let him just leave like that. Poe, Finn and Rey stepped further inside of the warehouse, collecting things and discussing what to leave, pulling Hux and Ren along with them. This time they made sure to watch Ren, maybe even more closely than Hux. Poe and Finn found  something within the warehouse to keep themselves occupied. Rey made sure that Hux couldn’t really see where they went. “Okay Hux...It goes against my better judgement but...You’re free to go when we leave.”

Hux glared at her. “What makes you think I won’t track you down? I know where you base out of Rey. I will get my things back.”

Rey smiled so sickeningly sweet his teeth hurt. “If you can find me, Hux, I’ll give you back your things and I’ll make tea for you.”

Hux opened his mouth to shout something about how she better have his tea at a perfect temperature with lemon and honey on demand, in the shape of fucking swans...when the ground shifted. It rumbled and creeked, followed by the sound of crunching metal. Poe shouted back while pulling Finn close behind him. “The warehouse is collapsing! Everyone out!”

Rey looked all around the ground as it cracked and shifted before any of them had the sense to even move towards the warehouse door. The first step all of them took, the floor gave way beneath them, cracking along the floor just in front of Rey’s foot. Hux watched in slow motion as Rey grabbed a hold of the ledge, but he continued to fall.


	2. Zygomatic Bone

Chapter 2

“I want to know why you decided it was a brilliant idea to put an entire warehouse full of military grade weapons on top of a mine in a mining town...You had to know there were tunnels running underneath.”

Hux blinked, not really sure who Ren was talking to. He hurt everywhere and knew for a fact that he wasn’t walking, but the walls of a dirt tunnel continued to move past him as if he were. Was Ren carrying him? “I didn’t...didn’t know about the tunnels.”

“Rey spoke highly of your leadership skills, the least you could have done was a little research into the town you were taking over.”

“I’m not from around here.”

“The town’s name is Coalville.”

“There's also a town called Scotland, but you don’t just assume everyone there wears kilts...put me down.” Hux growled; thinking Ren would at least argue with him but he just let go of Hux’s legs and leaned back.

Hux gasped and fell hard on his ass on the dirt floor. Glaring up at Ren from the ground and gritting his teeth together, Hux's anger boiled at the calm curiosity in Ren’s eyes when he turned to glance down at him over his shoulder. That movement was the only pause Ren gave him before he continued walking down the dirt tunnel. Hux tried his best to get to his feet quickly but he was sore everywhere. He had no idea what happened after the floor fell through and Ren was obviously determined to get somewhere. It was almost like he knew where he was going. At least that made one of them. Hux had no idea where the hell he was or where the hell the tunnels led. Deciding to take the lesser of two evils, he hobbled after Ren; thankful that he took a leisurely pace.

“Did you grow up here or something?” Hux offered, stretching his back out and really feeling the sting in his tailbone.

“No.”

“So you have no fucking idea where you’re going?”

Ren smirked at Hux over his shoulder, “If you’d shut up and listen, you’d hear the zombies in these tunnels going the other direction.”

Did Hux have the foresight to grab a gun? He checked his pockets frantically before giving up. No. He did not. Breathing out through his nose, Hux did in fact listen around him. Ren was right, the groans and shuffles of the Zombies in the tunnels echoed behind them, but it wasn’t the only sound. Ahead of them, Hux could hear the rush of running water as well as more dead. “You’re taking us to the river?”

“Do you want to stay here?”

Hux glared daggers into Ren. If only he had a gun. Then he could shoot him in the back of his head and matte up his thick, silky tresses with blood. Nearing the river, both remained silent for two reasons: one, Hux was over Ren’s smart ass comments and two, the zombies were really close now. He grabbed a hold of Ren’s shoulder to push him down when the tunnel ended at the top of a wooden staircase. The staircase railing proved perfect cover to spy into the large cavern, even if they could only see darkened shapes a few feet ahead of them. The sunshine at the mouth of the cave was the only light in the cavern. It was just enough to see the the outline of the staircase that descended down to a platform by the spring that fed into the Des Moines river. Zombies hobbled and slinked along the boarded walkways; the creaking, groaning and showers of dust proved that. They were everywhere; from what he could see. 

Hux waited a moment to see if Ren would try to come up with some idiotic plan to get to the spring but he turned to Hux instead. Mr. Smart-ass-three-year-old didn’t have a comment? “Do you see a way to jump down past them?” Hux whispered so softly he could barely hear himself.

Ren leaned forward through a few of the missing spindles of the staircase then back shaking his head. Well dammit. “Okay...did you manage to grab any weapons when we fell?”

It didn’t matter how dark it was in that cavern, Ren’s face fucking lit up. He pulled open his coat and Hux saw that he had grabbed at least three handguns that he could see. “Good. That’s good. We are still going to die if any of them catch us, but that’s good.”

They sat there staring at the nameless shapes sulking around the darkness for a while before Hux could formulate some kind of plan. They couldn’t just run down there; the zombies would be able to catch them. They couldn’t shoot them all; no matter how many guns Ren grabbed, they’d need at least half of that weapons stockpile to deal with this many dead. Hux was relieved about the roaring water and the sheer amount of noise inside of the cavern. It made hiding from the zombie horde easier until they could formulate a plan.  At least where they hid, they were safe...for now. Hux continued to stare into the darkness when one of the zombies bumped into a hanging delivery pallet that hadn’t been taken down before the mines were abandoned. “We could jump onto that. I’m sure the ropes will break.”

Ren deadpanned. “You can’t be serious.”

“Do you see a better way? If we get down to that platform and jump onto the pallet it will swing and break just over the spring and we’ll float out of here.”

“You hit your head pretty hard didn’t you?”

“I know it sounds like something out of a movie and those plans never work, but this isn’t like that. Mathematically it will work.”

Ren muttered something under his breath that Hux swore sounded like ‘mathematically my ass’ or something to that effect, but he didn’t argue. Hux made sure to lead the way, not that Ren was going to go first to die because of Hux’s crazy ass plan. This plan was foolproof; except if there were Prowlers. Although, Hux was sure that they couldn’t be anywhere in the cavern since it was pretty much blocked off from civilization. Nothing moved like a Prowler amongst the Flesh bags down here in the dark. Honestly, if they were there, Hux and Ren would already be dead.

Everything was going according to plan. Ren followed close behind Hux and complied with all of his cues to stop when they were too close to being discovered; while the Flesh bags continued to hobble around unaware. Everything was great...until a gut wrenching screech echoed off of the cavern walls. Hux stiffed, unable to move or even breathe when Ren laid a gloved hand on his shoulder. Tugging Hux back to mutter through clenched teeth in his ear, Ren stared up into the cavern ceiling. “If those are Prowlers...we are dead.”

The screech resounded in the large cavern again. Fuck, those were Prowlers...they were going to die. Renewed desire to stay alive forced Hux into action. They couldn’t sneak around in the darkness. They had to make a run for it and Hux wasn’t going to run blindly into a mob of Flesh bags with Prowers dropping from the ceiling without a weapon. “New plan. Run to that bridge over the spring and jump.” Hux rattled off, thankful for Ren’s closeness to make it easier to pull one of the G17s from inside of his coat.

Hux bolted up from his place crouched on the ground and leapt over the rickety wooden railing with Ren right behind him; barking at him. “It’s a spring not a lake.”

“I’d rather break my neck than be torn to pieces. How about you?” He didn’t answer, not that he could under the circumstances.

Hux knew it was going to happen, but that didn’t make it any less terrifying. The prowlers invaded the cavern from one of the lower tunnels (the direction Ren had avoided), a few of them climbing the rock walls to get a better angle on their prey; prey being Hux and Ren. Hux never ran so fast in his life; the sound of his own beating heart in his ears consequently drowned out the screeching and banging of the prowlers while they scaled the old wooden walkways, ladders and stairs. They were so close...just a few more feet.

It wasn’t until Ren started firing that Hux realized the Prowlers surrounded them. Their faces twisted into snarls; blood and other fluids oozing from their eyes, noses, and mouths. They inched their way closer, pushing Hux and Ren back...further from the bridge. The other zombies in the cavern followed the commotion like ants to a dropped piece of bread from a picnic basket, but the Prowlers wouldn’t let them get near. Even going as far as to push them over the edge of the wooden walkway and bridge if they persisted. Hux didn’t bother raising his gun; mathematics and gravity were on his side this time. The Flesh Bags pushed the Prowlers closer inciting an bloodthirsty riot, or it would have if the old wood bridge didn’t start cracking under the substantial weight. Hux spun around, as best he could with no control of the shifting floor beneath him, and reached out to grip the opening of Ren’s coat. This might not be the bridge he wanted to be on, but it was going to work...it had to.

He pulled Ren down with him just as the boards beneath their feet snapped under the pressure and the whole structure came toppling down into the spring. Hux watched in slow motion, again, falling to his presumed death. The Prowlers jumped from board to board in the air at normal speed, or at least that's what he thought he saw while the rest of them fell helplessly. When his back hit ice cold water, everything sped back up. He didn’t let go of Ren for some fucking unknown reason, probably because Ren had carried him when they fell the last time. Then again, probably not. He needed something to hold onto to float. After several close calls of falling timber over their heads, Hux found a good sized piece to hoist Ren onto and hold on himself. The current pulled them out of the cave and into the Des Moines river along with everything else. Most of the zombies sank, trapped in the rivers strong undertow but the Prowlers could swim. Hux looked at the G17 in his hand and debated on whether or not it would even work if he tried to fire it. He had no idea how long it had been underwater. Taking the chance, Hux aimed and fired at a Prowler closing in. It fired so he kept shooting at the moving disease ridden creatures until the Glock was empty.

Ren didn’t move on the floating beam and Hux started to wonder if he was dying. He should have let Ren go and not be in this dangerous waiting game. It wasn’t like Ren would have been the first death on his hands and he sure as hell wouldn’t be the last. Biting his lip, Hux reached back into Ren’s drenched coat with cautious precision. He needed another gun or at least another magazine for his G17. When Ren groaned and shifted, Hux reflexively pointed the gun at him. Why the fuck he did that with an empty gun, he had no clue. Ren turned to face Hux, scowling.

The ungrateful bastard. Why was he looking at him like that? Hux saved his life, the LAST life he’ll ever save, and this is all he gets. Curious dark eyes behind a confused scowl and matted dark curls outlining Ren’s angular face. Well fuck him too. “What?” Hux bit out.

“Are you going to shoot me?”

Hux’s response: pull the trigger. It was no loss to him if it actually fired, but when Ren flinched, Hux sneered. “Empty.”

Ren blinked in surprise before grinning. “That’s a shame.” He muttered.

It really was, but Hux wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that. “We should try to get to shore before we get infected.”

“Assuming we aren’t already.”

“Yeah…”

“I’m not out of ammo. Let’s hope you turn first.”

“Fuck you.”

Ren ignored him. Opting, instead, to push away from the wooden beam to swim to shore and Hux followed him. He thought about swimming to the other side, but there was a chance he could still get a magazine from Ren. Even if he had to sneak it, it was a better shot than none at all. They crawled through the reeds, fallen branches and trash that lined the river. He was honestly surprised not to see any bones amongst the other junk. They stood on the muddy river bank, catching their breath and making sure they weren’t followed before Hux cleared his throat. “Okay. You’re free...I’m free. Give me a magazine and I’ll get out of your hair.”

Ren ran a hand through his sopping tresses before narrowing his eyes at Hux. “How do I know that you won’t shoot me when I turn around?”

“I don’t waste bullets. Don’t worry, I’ll kill you some other time. Honestly, I’m freezing and would rather go home to have a glass of scotch.”

Ren smirked before reaching inside of his coat. “That does sound good.” He pulled out the magazine and tossed it to Hux.

He caught it with one hand and replaced the empty one. When he looked back up, Ren had already started to walk away. Hux grinned, happy that this was all over and behind him so he could figure out what to do alone. Wrapping his arms around himself, he turned to walk in the opposite direction. He made it one step when he heard a familiar voice shout. “Stop right here Kylo Ren. Drop the gun.”

That was his cue to run like hell.

Hux bolted down the river bank in the opposite direction, hoping no one would see him. He might be exhausted and frozen to the bone, but he had no intention of dealing with Phasma empty handed. He kept running, kept moving…until he heard a swooshing shot from behind him and felt something tangle around his legs. Whatever it was, it fucking hurt! “Urgh!”

Between his tangled legs and his inability to slow down, Hux went flying into the mud face first. He tried to put his hands out to stop himself, but all he managed to do was slide them in the mud. Lifting up his head and spitting grotesque tasting muck out of his mouth, he heard Phasma laugh above him. “You should know by now never to run from me.”

“Phasma. It is because I run from you that I’ve managed to stay alive all these years.” He groaned, trying to push himself up from the sludge. “This is a new tactic, though. Can’t you just stick with shooting me in the leg?”

“Too messy. I just cleaned the truck.”

He managed to push himself up to a kneeling position before he looked up at her. She smiled at him almost fondly with one hand on her hip and the other holding a rifle that laid slack at her side. “Why bother with me Phasma? You got Ren, leave me out of this.”

She raised an eyebrow, still smiling. “Snoke wanted me to come get his payment from you.” Then she turned towards where her men were dragging Ren into their truck. “Two for the price of one.”

She snapped her fingers. Three more men dressed in black stomped over to him and hauled him up onto his feet. Reaching behind her, Phasma pulled out a short blade from its' holster and knelt down in front of him to cut the wire wrapped around his legs. The wire had done a good amount of damage that worried Hux. He had several cuts now that the contaminated river water was sure to get into. Phasma noticed them too, but instead of just shooting him in the head and getting it over with, she hummed to herself. The three men dragged him to the truck and threw him in; just like Poe had done earlier that day. Phasma barked out some orders to the men before grabbing one of them and jumping into the back with Hux. She just stepped into the truck bed when it shifted into drive, tearing out of the muddy river bank with ease.  Gripping a thick cord that hung above the open truck bed, she inched her way to Hux. He watched her and the other man with concern about the small pack he had in his hands. “What’s that?”

“Medicine. You both were in the river and I’m sure there were Prowlers in there with you, correct?”

“We don’t have medicine for that Phasma…” Hux insisted. “Who have you been talking to that sold you some ‘antidote’ crap? You know it’s are just piss in a bottle.”

Her grin turned cold while the man opened the pack and pulled out two syringes. Both Hux and Ren had the same reaction. “You are NOT injecting me with that!”

Hux thought about struggling, he really did. Who wants to be injected with piss and food dye? But he didn’t really have a choice and the guy was lighting fast. He felt pretty helpless considering his arms were free and Ren’s were not. At least Ren had an excuse for being injected against his will: bound hands. Hux had leg paper cuts. No one was ever hearing about this…

“There you go, big babies. It’s all over with. Was that so bad?” Both Phasma and the guy climbed over them. They slid inside of the cab of the truck through the window; laughing the whole way.

Hux glared at Ren. This was all his fault. He didn’t know how it was his fault but that didn’t matter. The next opportunity he had to kill the bastard, he was going to take it. End of story.


	3. Humerus Bone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to my Alpha Reader, Silace. She's awesome!  
> And  
> Thank you so much for the suggestions and corrections Jackvbriefs. It needed the extra focus. Hopefully I fixed all of that. :D

Chapter 3

Snoke was kind of a big deal. Not the nice kind of big deal either. His past was clouded in mystery and deception and his current position as governor of what use to be Iowa. The biggest settlement in North America. It always made Hux a little bitter that Snoke chose Iowa of all places to build a settlement. He hated it. Hated the mud, hated the dust. Only someone as crazy and fucked up as Snoke, would run a settlement in the middle of a barren wasteland; a large settlement. But for all the shit he said about Snoke and his ‘interesting’ ways of doing things, it worked. Now, Hux stood in an old casino listening to two young women fawn over Snoke like he didn’t look like cross between a Prowler and a dog. Some men had all the luck.

“Hux. My old friend.” Snoke chuckled, leaning back from a craps table he stood at. “Phasma tells me your town sank into the river recently."

Hux nodded, not really sure what else to say. “It did.”

After studying Hux from head to toe he nodded; satisfied with whatever outcome he’d found. He licked his lips and frowned. “That is a shame, my boy. A true shame.” He tilted his head to the side; his jovial smile returning. “And the food?”

“Probably in St. Louis."

“The military weapons?”

Hux shifted his weight to the other leg, held his hands behind his back and stood a little taller. He had to make this look good. “Rey and her band of idiots scooped them up for me before the town sank. I just need to get them back from her.”

“Just need to get them back?” Snoke repeated.

Damn...he didn’t believe a word of it. “Yes.”

“Is that really what happened, Kylo Ren?”

Hux felt his stomach flip when Ren walked into the room dressed in clean, dry, brand new clothes. Adjusting his gloves and sneering at Hux, he nodded his head. “That’s about right. Rey has all of them, except a few side arms, but she’s taking them to Vegas. If we catch them before the clear out their base, we can get it back.”

“And you know where that is?”

Hux paled when Ren nodded, a faint smirk on his lips. But Snoke didn’t order his head on a platter or motion for his men to carry Hux outside to be fed to the Prowlers and Flesh bags that hovered and scrapped at the surrounding walls of the settlement. Instead Snoke stood and held his hands behind his back, walking over to him with an eerie calm. “Well Hux, that must be good news for you to hear. Since it means you can still repay me.”

Hux blinked. “I…” Then he cleared his throat, in control again. “Yes.”

“Good. Then you also won’t mind taking Kylo Ren and Phasma with you to Vegas. I have a special job for them that requires what you owe me.” Snoke stopped in front of hux, his cracked and misshapen lips twisted into a wide grin. “I’m giving you this second chance at a price, Hux. Kylo Ren is like a son to me. See that he gets to Vegas safely.”

Hux gave Snoke a curt, firm nod; never turning his eyes away from him.

“Good.” Snoke grabbed ahold of Hux’s shoulder and dug his fingers in, making Hux bite the inside of his cheek to keep from showing how badly it hurt. “Good. Well you better get going...and you might want to do something about your clothes.”

When Snoke released his shoulder, Hux let go of the breath he was holding. Repulsed by the metalic taste of blood in his mouth, his scowl deepened. When was this going to end? Snoke returned to his place at a craps table, picked up the dice and rolled them around his palm. The two women returned to their job of making his ego larger than the planet Earth and Kylo Ren made sure Hux saw his vindictive grin before sauntering off to god knows where. Two of Snoke’s men took that to mean he was done speaking with Hux and lifted him off the ground to drag him out of the casino. They tossed him out of the metal doors onto the cracked cement parking lot and kicked him in the stomach for good measure.

While Hux desperately tried to catch the breath that was kicked out of him, he vowed to himself that on his way to Vegas he’d find a way to murder, mutilate and otherwise destroy Kylo Ren; even if it meant Snoke and Phasma coming after his ass. Fuck that guy. Fuck. That. Guy.

“Get up Hux. It’s just a kick and some scolding. The last guy that disappointed Snoke, he let me use him as bait to lure the Prowlers away from a Research Lab in what’s left of Atlanta.” Phasma snickered, poking him in the side with her AK-47.

“Well that’s fucking wonderful for you.” Hux choked out and rolled onto his hands to push himself up off the ground.

Phasma laughed. “It really was.”

“I don’t suppose we are taking any of your wonderful trucks or really anything of value on this road trip?” Hux spat, glaring at her.

She shook her head at him before spinning on her heels to walk away; leaving Hux to follow after her. He hated that. Twice in one day? Fuck the universe.  Showing his displeasure in an audible groan, Hux stood and walked after her. Adjusting his coat, he realized it was still a little damp from his delightful swim in the river. It reeked of sewage, dead fish and lord knows what else, but it was all he had. Besides, if it made everyone else around him miserable, he could get used to the smell.

Phasma lead him out of the parking lot and down the cracked pavement for almost a mile before stopping outside of a bar that he knew very well. The bar’s original sign tilted up against the front wall in shambles and a poorly spray painted sign above the door read, ‘Tattoine.’ Hux shook his head and sighed. “Idiot.”

This bar was an old favorite of his, even before his dealings with Snoke. He would sit at the bar and drink all night rambling on about nothing with the bar’s owner, R2, or so he called himself. The guy was a huge Star Wars fanatic, thus, the name of the bar. Ironically, for how much of a nerd he was about Star War’s he spelled name on the sign wrong. He told Hux one day when they drank together, that he had been completely trashed when he painted the sign and it had stuck as a good joke to those who still recognized the name. R2, Rusty Dagenhart the second, had the greatest sense of right and wrong Hux had ever seen. He was brilliant, brave and forthcoming. All traits of a great man, but Hux thought R2 was an idiot. For as smart, determined and brave as he was, he never made it out of this ratty old bar inside of the most evil man in the world’s territory. Then again, if he remembered right, these memories of R2 were before Snoke took over. Hux felt a reminiscent pang in his stomach of when things were better as Phasma shoved open the metal door. The bar had been empty for years. R2 and his two year old son Bobby, left for Vegas and were never heard from again.

“He left something for you.” Phasma murmured, walking into the dusty bar.

Hux just followed after her, lost in his memories. It sickened him to see the place so desolate. “Over here Hux.” Phasma called out to him from behind the old bar.

She reached underneath it and pulled out a glass bottle letting it clink against the others, but it was empty. Hux laughed, choking a little on the dust in the air. “He left me an empty bottle?”

Smirking she tipped the bottle upside down and a key fell out of it onto the bar. “He left you an apartment,” she explained, sliding the lone key on a set she pulled out of her pocket. “I’m sure there you’ll find whatever you need. I’ll meet you at dawn by the river.”

He wanted to ask her where the fuck that was supposed to be but decided against it. She’d probably give him some bull shit answer of ‘figure it out’ or something like that. Catching the keys that Phasma threw to him, he waited until she left the bar to take a closer look at everything. The place had been ransacked. Nothing was left of value or even sentimental value. Just the broken wooden chairs and collapsing bar. When Hux finally left, he paused to murmur ‘good luck’ to the memory of an idiot with a love for useless things.

\-------

Hux held his breath when he turned the lock in hopes the key wouldn’t snap inside of it. By some miracle it didn’t and the door opened. The apartment was large-he gave it that-but it was also covered in 6 inches of solid dust thanks to an open window at the far end of the apartment. Hux groaned, that meant that the rain, dust, and everyone who had noticed, was in this apartment.

He trudged forward through the dirt into to the middle of the living room. Sheets covered everything in the room making it really difficult to see much of anything. He assumed the sheets covered furniture and searched the rest of the apartment for anything of use.  Like clothes that don’t smell like sewage, and soap to wash the muck off of him so his legs don’t become infected with gangrene. His search ended up fruitless so he returned to the living room to uncover the sofa and sit down. Two steps into the room and he realized...that wasn’t furniture scattered around the room under the large sheets. Lifting the sheet closest to him, he saw the floral pattern on the underside before the dust fell off of it and soared through the air.  He covered his face when his coughing fit started, but still had a hand free to continue his searching. Trying not to disturb any more dust than he had to, Hux lifted the sheet all the way to reveal a solid black case underneath. Once his coughing slowed, he knelt in front of it and fiddled with the old locks. It opened easy enough and hux lifted it; anticipation of finding something amazing swelled inside his chest. He was disappointed at first to see crisp, folded military uniforms from decades ago. They were untouched by time and dust, sealed inside of the black case.

Hux sighed and reached inside to lift one of the uniforms; deciding he should at least check to see if it was his size before chalking it up to a loss. The instant he lifted the uniform shirt, he started to laugh. Beneath it was a letter. It read;

    Dear Hux,

    My son and I are heading to Vegas tomorrow. You were right. I have to do something! I’m looking for my old war buddy, Luke. He will be able to help me bring Snoke to justice. If I don’t make     it...I need you to help me. I hate asking YOU for help but I have something in it that will be worth your while.

And that was all he wrote. Hux read the letter twice before tossing it aside to rummage through the case. It held war memorabilia that R2 had collected over the years but nothing of value. Hux tied the uniform shirt around his face to help keep the dust from invading his lungs and started moving all of the sheets. The next sheet revealed a trunk. The trunk held clothes much more to Hux’s liking and they were his size. The letter in this trunk was on the top, staring him in the face when he lifted the lid.

    Hux,

    Enjoy the clothes.

Hux was starting to think R2 had lost his mind. He shut the trunk to keep more dust from getting inside and continued his search. The armour he uncovered next held an array of rifles-mostly hunting rifles and a shotgun-but one of them brought a smile to his lips. “He had a M-200!...Where the fuck did he get this?” Hux rasped in excitement, pulling the sniper rifle from it’s place to better inspect it.

R2 was just a harmless, nerdy drunkard with a kid a quarter of his age and a bar in the middle of a barren wasteland. But now, Hux was starting to see him in a whole new light. He placed the sniper rifle into its place in the armoire and backed himself up against a wall to take in the entire ransacked room. The rest of the trunks and cases held similar things; similar crazy letters of enjoy this and enjoy that, similar uniforms, similar military memorabilia. Hux frowned realizing that the military weapons and uniforms were from before the zombie apocalypse; All locked in one place, with one key and no one bothered checking on it. The fucking window was open this entire time! Hux wanted to know now more than ever what R2 had in mind for him. If it was anything as unexpected as this appartment, it was going to be glorious.

Hux shut the window and left the dusty main room of the apartment in search of a bed. Finding it covered in dust renewed his hatred of dirt in general. He made quick work of the dusty sheets and checked for anything crawling before deeming it worthy of a night's sleep. Under the bed R2 stuffed a box of soap and a first aid kit, so Hux took it to the bathroom in hopes that the water still ran. When he turned the faucet on and nothing happened he wasn’t surprised. The apartment had been abandoned for 6 years. There was no way that Snoke would let valuable water just run off from the busted apartment building pipes...but it was still worth a shot. He started to stand when he heard the apartment door open and shut. Setting the first aid kit down on the counter, Hux reached into his pocket where he had his G17 before remembering that Phasma took it from him. Unarmed and in an unknown apartment, Hux waited until the intruder would make themselves known. He didn’t have to wait long when he heard the thud of a container of liquid hit the ground. “Hux.”

It was Kylo Ren. Now would have been a great time to shoot him in the head if phasma hadn’t taken his gun. He had the perfect story. Kylo Ren just barged in without announcing himself...he could have been there to kill him for all Hux knew. “I’m in here. What the hell do you want?” Hux huffed and plopped back down on the tub edge.

Ren walked towards the bathroom door before leaning on the doorway. “I brought you some water.”

Hux glared at him, not really sure what to say at first. “Why?”

Ren smirked, shrugging his shoulders and glancing down at Hux’s tattered pant legs. “You need to bandage those. I’m not carrying you to Rey’s hideout like I did in the tunnels. You’re too heavy.”

Hux’s face felt like it was on fire. He hated feeling weak and Ren pointing out a time where he was, really pissed him off. “I should have shot you.” Hux snarled.

“If you had, you’d be dead now.”

Hux grit his teeth together and picked up the bar of soap to chuck at Ren’s head. Kylo Ren must have been expecting it because he disappeared behind the wall just when the bar of soap flew through the air into the bedroom. Ren popped his head back in, a lock of his curly black hair falling into his face as he grinned. “The truth hurts, doesn’t it.”

Hux started to get up to beat the shit out of that smug grin when someone else walked into the apartment. What was this, some kind of party? Who else knew he was there? “Kylo Ren. It’s time to meet with Snoke.” Phasma huffed making Hux growl-that traitor.

Ren eyed Hux up and down before straightening and walking towards the living room. Hux didn’t waste the opportunity and chucked another bar of soap at him, hitting him in the shoulder. It didn’t do any real damage-just bounced off and landed on the floor-but it make Hux feel better.

He waited until the door slammed shut before he bothered getting up and walking into the living room to pick up the jug of water. Next to it he saw the G17 that Phasma had confiscated from him earlier and picked it up to. The whole way back to the bathroom, Hux whistled ‘The Imperial March’.

\-----------

Hux stood at the gates of the settlement with new clothes and his new M-200 strapped to his back. The sun barely broke over the horizon but he knew Phasma would still consider him late. He waited for the buzzing electric gate to slide away so he could pass through it. After he passed through it, he made the short trek to the river bank thinking about the last letter he found just before he left R2’s apartment. All it had on it were coordinates and a short message: Do not trust anyone. It made Hux laugh when he read it. He never trusted anyone in his life INCLUDING R2, even now.

Kylo Ren and Phasma were already at the river near her truck, staring into the distance and talking about something. The closer Hux drew to them the more of their conversation he overheard. “You’ll get your chance Kylo Ren. Snoke’s plans don’t always make the most sense at first.”

“You’ve been under his thumb for years, Phasma. Why are you still doing his dirty work?”

Even from where Hux stood, he could see her bristle. “I like getting my hands dirty,” she defended.

“Am I late?” Hux interrupted, trying to get Phasma off the spot.

“You are always late, Hux.” Phasma stated and walked around the truck to the driver’s side door. “Let’s go."

Ren opened the passenger door and got inside leaving Hux to climb into the bed. He sat next to the back window trying to convince himself he’d rather be outside with several inches of steel between Ren and him. Phasma started the truck and pulled away heading for Rey’s hide out from the directions Ren gave her. The wind and the landscape whisked by him but at least he had his M-200. She needed a name...He needed to work on that.


	4. Malleus Bone

Chapter 4

Rey and her crew weren’t there but Phasma still insisted they go check it out. ‘Insisting’ included pointing her gun at both him and Ren, while telling them to shut up or she’d shoot them both. Hux jumped out of the bed of the truck. He knew damn well that she’d shoot him, but Ren didn’t. Snickering at Ren’s attempt to persuade Phasma, Hux kept walking and waited for the sound of a gunshot. “Phasma. She isn’t here.” Kylo Ren stepped out of the truck, slamming the door behind him. “No trucks, no warning shots fired at us. They even left the doors open. It’s probably full of Flesh Bags by now.”

Phasma glared at Ren from across the truck. “Keep moving.”

Hux ignored Phasma and checked his Glock to make sure Phasma hadn’t emptied it. The last thing he wanted to deal with was pulling the trigger and nothing happening while he was in there. Going in there might be a really fucking stupid idea, but Hux knew Rey liked to forget little things here and there when they moved on to new places. Seeing the open doors sent a chill up his spine. He couldn't shake the feeling that something way above of his pay grade was going on.

Stepping over the threshold of the wide open school double doors, Hux aimed into the darkness; waiting for anything to move. The doors opened into a long hall of closed classroom doors. He waited; ears trained on the emptiness to hear even the smallest shuffle or step. Nothing. Nothing but the sound of Ren being a fucking dumb ass. “Fine Phasma. If you want us in here so damn bad, then fine.”

Hux glared over at Kylo Ren-about to make some remark about throwing him in the room and shooting him-when he grabbed Hux by the arm and pulled him into the room with him. “Are you fucking crazy?” he spat through clenched teeth. “I don’t know if this building is empty. Do you?”

Ren stopped dragging him and stared down the hallway. Fucking idiot. The hallway continued to be quiet and empty. All of the doors stayed shut and nothing changed so Hux wasn’t surprised when he was dragged down the hall again. Phasma closed and bolted the double doors before catching up with them. Ren’s brash tactics were foolish. He was about to call him out on it when he realized Ren was planning on using him as a distraction or bait. Fuck this guy. Hux yanked his arm out of Ren’s grip and straightened his jacket with an indignant glare at Ren. “Run into a fucking dark abandoned building without batting an eye but make snide comments about that damn mining town.” Hux muttered under his breath.

Ren turned to glare at Hux over his shoulder. They both stood there glaring daggers at each other when Hux heard Phasma sigh from behind them. She pushed past them shoving a flashlight into both of their chests and rolled her eyes. Flicking on her flashlight, she continued walking hyper focused on who knows what. “Bicker all you want on your own time.” she ordered in a hushed whisper.  “Look for anything useful. You both can do that, can’t you?”

Hux aimed at the back of her head, intending to make fake gunshot sound effect but Ren didn’t see the humor in it. He smacked Hux in the shoulder and stared at him in disbelief. “What? I promised Snoke I’d get your useless ass to Vegas. I didn’t promise for her.” 

Phasma didn’t turn or slow down. See. At least she saw the humor in it. 

Ren followed after Phasma, his long coat flowing behind him. For a second Hux debated on shooting both of them...for real this time, but this wasn’t the place. There would be better times in the future. He hoped. Their footsteps echoed in the empty hallway and Phasma’s flashlight flickered ahead of him. Each door Hux passed, he checked to see if it would open.  All of them were locked. Smart girl. Rey left the windows open and unboarded on the outside of the school building. From the outside the place looked like an abandoned flesh bag secret hide out. The inside, however, was perfectly sealed from the outside. The doors to the widowed classrooms stayed locked and boarded. No way in or out through them. Interesting tactic but effective. That left the inner classrooms used for storage, living areas and interrogation rooms; like the one Hux had been in. Satisfied that the doors to the outside hadn’t been tampered with, Hux started his investigation of the innermost rooms while Phasma and Mr. Killjoy went into the large open room that Rey and the others used for intel and communication with Vegas. 

Hux knew that room would be empty or have too much trash to sift through to actually find anything of value. Then again, Phasma could just be looking for zombies. The first door that opened for Hux, he flashed the light inside. Swiftly surveying the room before fully opening the door. If something was in there he wanted the option to slam the door shut before he got his face mauled off. One quick glance around the room and Hux knew it probably served as a sleeping quarters for someone. Most likely for Poe and Finn if the posters of David Beckham modeling Calvin Klein underwear and muscle cars on the walls were anything to go by. Hux scoffed; shutting the door and losing all interest in searching the room. 

The next room was empty and just as useless. The third room was a gold mine. The large room lined with waist high counters filled with papers and radios of every kind. Hux gaped at the trove of information that Rey just shoved off to the side. She held it all in this little fucking room? A science classroom. Why? “Hey Phasma.”

She didn’t respond but he could hear shuffling outside of the doorway from further down the hall. Hux made a beeline for the Ham radio. Setting down the gun and fiddling with papers and books laying around on the counter with it. Rey had been tracking a distress call and left records of when the call was reported. Nothing about that was out of the ordinary. The entire book was filled with distress calls and marks next to them saying ‘saved’ or ‘lost’, but this entry had nothing by it. Nothing but tally marks. Interesting. Hux sat down on the swivel stool next to the equipment and turned everything on.  Immediately the speakers crackled and a small voice came on. “MAYDAY! MAYDAY! HELP! Please send help. My father’s dead and I’m trapped up here on the roof of an office building…”

Hux listened to the kid rattle off a series of numbers which he assumed were coordinates. Glancing over at the wall map he saw a mark on a small town outside of Denver with the word ‘trap’ written in red. He stood and crossed the room, shining the flashlight on the map to get a better look at the writing all over it. This didn’t make any sense. Denver was destroyed. The only thing left of Denver was an enormous crater that could hold the water from all the great lakes at once.  Well, the water that used to be in the great lakes before the whole world went to shit. The message repeated over and over again. It was a recording. Interesting way to transmit a distress signal...if the distress was real. The fact that Rey shrugged off a little kid as a ‘trap’ made him wonder what her reasoning was. Maybe it was a trap. A well known trap. Hux sat back down on the black swivel stool and swung back and forth on it. 

“Trap huh?” Hux breathed to himself. “Who would do such a thing?” he laughed.

The kid kept saying the same thing over and over while Hux started thumbing through the papers. He saw an entry from Rey about the ‘trap’ transmission. Seems Rey believed the boy to be R2’s son who originally recorded the message. She also believed that someone was using it as a way to rob and kill people coming to help the kid. That meant Bobby was already dead. “Shame.”

Then the recording changed. The air went dead before a crackle came on. “Uncle Luke are you getting this?”

That caught his attention. Was it another recording? He strained to hear anything in the silent crackle but nothing else happened. The next thing he knew the old recording started playing again leaving him to wonder if he ever heard the kid in the first place. Where the hell was Ren and Phasma? Hux glanced over his shoulder at the doorway outside of the room with a frown. He heard her down the hall didn’t he? Hux flashed the light around the room again, making sure no one was in there. Nothing, good. Standing and crossing the room, Hux aimed the G17 at the doorway. He held his breath and leaned out of the doorway just enough to see each way down the hall. Nothing. What was it he heard then?

Closing the door behind him Hux tried to keep his eyes in front and behind him at the same time. He didn’t want to die just yet. He still had shit to do. The only comfort Hux had in the horrible situation he was in, was the shuffle had to be from a flesh bag and not a prowler. Thank the non existent god for small miracles right? The large cafeteria was empty when hux walked in. His arm outstretched and flashlight in hand resting on top of his right arm. Allowing him to aim his gun where the light from the flashlight shone. He searched the room again, just in case he missed something and gave up. No one was in there. He took a few steps towards the opposite doorway when he saw a black figure walking towards him through it. The figure was tall and had the same outline as Ren. It had to be Ren; this was his chance. He could easily make this a ‘I thought he was a zombie’ excuse. He aimed and fired, a wicked grin on his lips.  When the black figure fell to the ground, Hux heard a whistle from just behind it. “Hux? Did you just save my life again?” Ren mused from the hallway, walking over the dead zombie into the flashlights path.

Fuckin’ serously?! “Looks like it.”

From behind Ren, Hux saw a flash of light and then Phasma’s face as she leaned around Kylo Ren’s shoulder. “So there are flesh bags in here...we need to hurry up and get out of here.”

“You were the one who wanted in here in the first place.” Ren spat; moving away from her to join Hux in the cafeteria. 

Hux was thankful for Ren’s glare of annoyance instead of relief or appreciation. He had to know Hux did that on accident. When in doubt change the subject right? “I found the radios and some maps and shit back there.” Hux pointed behind him. “I found a distress call-”

“We have a mission. We aren’t saving random people.” Phasma interrupted heading towards where Hux had pointed in a huff.

“It’s not some random person, Phasma. It’s R2’s kid Bobby and the only reason I’m bringing it up is because I think he knows where Luke is.” Hux grinned in satisfaction when Phasma stopped. Hook, line and sinker. “Snoke’s been looking for Luke since he first set up shop in that damn casino. If you bring him back, or tell him where to get Luke’s stuff…”   


“I get the picture, Hux. Just keep moving.”

They followed her to the room with the Ham radio. Hux stayed in the hallway while Ren and Phasma destroyed it for whatever info they wanted. He had no desire to be trapped and now that he knew there were flesh bags in there, he wanted out. They took too long but eventually came out of the room with a couple folded papers and the map. “Anything else?” Ren huffed at Phasma while she shut the door.

“No. Let’s go.”

Hux stared down the hallway towards the cafeteria. “I’ll be surprised if we make it on the road without an ambush.” 

“Think positive, Hux. We could all be dead now but we aren’t.”

Hux stared at Ren’s face. Now he want’s to have a sense of humor? “I am thinking positive.”

Ren opened his mouth to say something when a loud clang rang down the hall from the cafeteria. Hux spun on his heels and bolted towards the double doors. “Move!”

Ren and Phasma weren’t far behind him and the clanging grew louder. Hux felt his heart jump into his throat when the double doors started to shake. skidding to a halt with Ren and Phasma running into him, he muttered curses under his breath. “There goes the truck…” Phasma sighed.

“I think there are more important things to worry about than the truck.” Ren whispered. “How do we get out of here, Hux?”

Hux stared at the shaking doors, barely hearing Ren’s question over the noise behind them. “We have to get to the roof…”

“That’s behind us.”

“Yeah...we have to go that way.” He breathed feeling his chest tighten and head spin.

Phasma sighed out of annoyance. “Lead the way Hux. We’ll cover for you.” Hux glared at her, causing her to laugh. “I swear I’ll actually cover for you this time. Not like in Chicago.”

Ren glanced between them. Good. Hux liked leaving Ren in the dark...he also liked the little bit of reassurance while he walked to his death. “This way.”

Hux ran down the hallway searching for the interrogation room that lead to the stairs. They passed several doors before he found it. Throwing the door open he flashed the light in to see three rotting corpses laying on the ground, leaning against the doorway to the stairs. Hux aimed and fired, hitting the once middle aged woman square in the forehead. She slumped to the side, a small amount of blood and muck oozing down her face, when another decomposing mass of flesh crawled over her to bite into her neck. Ren fired from beside him twice before hitting it in the head while Phasma took care of the third and shut the door behind them. Ren stared at the pile of decomposing flesh with a wrinkled nose and furrowed brow. “Great, now we have to move them.”

Hux mocked an appalled gasp. “Don’t tell me those muscles of your’s are fake?”

Ren flipped him off before stepping over to the flesh bags. Hux moved to the other side and helped Ren lift one of them. This zombie had seen better days. His face was nothing but mauled empty eye sockets and torn flesh. LIfting it made Hux gag from the putrid smell and wet, squishy feel. At least Ren was wearing gloves. This wasn’t fair.  “There.” he huffed, trying to keep his breakfast down. “One more.”

Ren looked just as disgusted as he did, reaching down and lifting the undead woman from her place against against the door. Hux lifted her feet and they both swung her over into the wall. It might have been more comical if they weren’t running for their lives. “Okay...who want’s to look out and see how many are in the stairwell?”

“I vote Phasma. She wanted in here and she didn’t have to lift shit.”

Phasma glared at Ren but he had a point. Hux nodded to her and she stood, crossing the room with indifference. She peered out the small window in the door and mumbled something inaudible. Hux knew there were at least 5 from the shadows that moved across the opposite side of the stairs. He just hoped they were lower. Phasma leaned back about to say something when she stopped and squinted out the window again. “Oh..Okay...There’s ten. Four by the roof and six below that I can see at least. I think if we run we can make it.”

“Good. Make your bullets last.” Hux breathed and gave Phasma a curt nod. “Open the door.”

The instant the door opened and Hux ran into the stairwell, his heart raced and his senses intensified. He heard every step, every groan, every gunshot and saw every movement. Everything seemed to move so much slower than his beating heart as Phasma shot and killed one of the zombies. It fell over the railing down to the steps, alerting the ones below that they were there. They snarled and charged up the stairs unhindered, but Hux was more concerned about the ones slowing them down in front of them. There was so little time that Hux held his breath unable to waste the time on breathing. He fired down at them through the middle of the stair well; hitting a few and slowing them down, but not doing enough to justify the bullets. They only had one more flight to go. 

More shots, more falling corpses, and louder snarls and groans below them but the door was right there. When Phasma burst through it followed by Ren, Hux was sure that they were home free. Until he felt something jump onto his back and dig into his shoulder. He couldn't regain his balance and fell to the ground on his hands, scraping them up on the roof surface. But he wasn’t worried about his hands. The pain in his shoulder made him think he’d been bitten. He was going to become one of those things...he was going to die. In the time it took for Hux to panic, the pain subsided slightly and the weight lifted off of his back. He turned to look over at Ren, coming to his fucking rescue...just like Rey had. What was he doing wrong? Ren knew he was trying to kill him. Rey knew he would have killed her if he had the chance. Why were they doing this? 

A shot rang in Hux’s ears. It should have been for him, but instead the zombie that attacked him fell to the ground at Ren’s feet. Hux watched Ren step over the body and kneel down enough to lift Hux up. He was too confused and elated to be alive to fight with him and let him carry him to the edge of the building. Hux saw Phasma glance over at him out of the corner of his eye. She smirked at him and jumped. Wait was that their plan?! His fears were confirmed when Ren tightened his grip on Hux and jumped too.


	5. Maxilla

Hux sucked in a desperate breath. “No no no!”

Clawing at Ren’s shoulders and neck, he completely forgot about the pain he was in. His stomach flew into his throat and that quick breath he took disappeared making him light headed. He couldn’t possibly close his eyes any tighter to avoid seeing their untimely death or blood splatter from when they hit the ground. Someone was screaming and he hoped to god it wasn’t him…what was he thinking? Of course it was him. 

“Hux. If you don’t shut the fuck up right now, I swear to God I’ll shove these tranquilizers down your throat.” Phasma growled from somewhere near him.

Hux opened his eyes to see Ren grinning like a madman. That’s when he realized they weren’t on the ground at all. The loud clatter and bangs of steps on metal made him glance down. They were on a roof; a metal slanted rooftop which hung over a small breezeway. Hux had completely forgotten about it in his panic of being tossed off the roof of a two story building by two psychotic jackasses. He thought about pushing away from one of those said jackasses but the groaning and screeching behind them made him change his mind.

“Where did you park the truck, Phasma? Can you see it from here?” Ren breathed, looking around them as they charged closer to the edge of the metal roof.

“Um...Yes there.” 

Ren hummed and Hux could feel the vibrations from it in his chest. As Ren neared the edge of the rooftop, he better prepared himself for another stupid jump. Screwing his eyes closed and holding on for dear life, he cringed. One of them was going to break something and when Ren pushed off the edge of the roof, Hux prayed it was him.

This jump was far worse than the last one, but he did (somehow) manage not to scream. His stomach flipped, his head spun and when the torture finally ended, his reward was a bunch of branches digging into his back. Damn bushes. Why the hell did they have to have bushes around the building? The only one fucking getting hurt was him! Hux opened his mouth to shout at Ren but instead he gasped. Ren readjusted him in his arms and tossed him out of the bushes. He hit the ground with a thud on his good shoulder and rolled from his side onto his back. Groaning in pain and frustration. “What the hell was that for?”

“Get up if you don’t want to be eaten. I’m not carrying you to the truck.” Ren muttered, rushing past him. 

Phasma toed at Hux’s side before running to catch up with Ren. Oh yeah. Psychotic jackasses of the highest degree. Rolling over onto his stomach, Hux cringed in pain but still managed to get to his knees. He thought he was doing pretty well until he saw something drop into the bushes with an unintelligible moan. “Shit!” Then another of the flesh bags fell off of the roof, missing the bushes and landing with a sickening splat on the ground several feet away.

He never moved so fast in his life. Scrambling to his feet and slipping a couple times in the disgusting muck that sprayed from the damn Flesh bag when it fell, he charged towards the truck. He heard the roar of the truck's engine and his heart did a summersault of relief...At least it did until he saw the truck’s tires spin in the dirt before pulling backwards as fast as the dirt and tires would allow. When the truck shifted into drive, Hux got a clear view of a Prowler clinging to the hood. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. 

The blood curdling screech of the Prowler made him flinch but he couldn’t stop running towards the truck. No matter how bad he wanted to bolt in the opposite direction, he knew if he stopped they wouldn’t come back for him. He might have a better chance fighting off flesh bags than a prowler, but he had zero chance walking versus driving. Nearing the truck, the air tasted like the dirt cloud now surrounding him. Ren finished reloading his glock from the safety of the passenger seat and aimed through the cracked windshield at the Prowler. Phasma seemed too focused on trying to see past the windshield and prowler to just gun it. In that small window of opportunity, Hux grabbed on to the side of the truck and pulled himself into the bed. The Prowler was so focused on getting to Phasma and Ren it didn’t notice Hux running towards the truck, thankfully.

From the bed of the truck, he glanced up at Ren’s head. He heard and saw Ren firing at the Prowler, so he decided to take his time and gingerly sit up from the bed so as not to hurt his shoulder anymore than it already was. He didn’t get a chance to think much on his shoulder after he heard the dispiriting click of Ren’s empty Glock. Returning his attention to the cab of the truck he saw the prowler had pulled itself up to look over the top of the truck, ignoring the bullets it took to the torso and legs. Ren was not even two feet from the damn thing and still hadn’t killed it! The misshapen face of what was once a living breathing human being opened it’s mouth into another loud screech before launching itself from the roof at Hux.

With reflexes he didn’t even know he possessed, Hux retrieved his own glock from where he’d accidently dropped it in the truck bed and fired at the Prowler; hitting it directly in the forehead. That didn’t stop the Prowlers momentum, however, and the dead weight of it’s lifeless body hit him square in the chest. The force of the impact pushed him against the tailgate and knocked the wind out of him. It would have done more damage if Phasma hadn’t taken that exact moment to make a hard left onto highway 80. Unfortunately the tail gate wasn’t closed good enough (he fucking blamed Ren) and it snapped down. The lifeless prowler slid off of him and out of the truck. Hux was too busy trying to breathe to stop himself from sliding as well. 

“Keep driving Phasma. I got him.”

Hux blinked in disbelief. Staring down at the quickly passing road not far from him, he realized Ren had grabbed on to his jacket keeping him from falling out of the truck. He coughed and stared, unable to process what was happening when Ren yanked him back into the bed of the truck. His head hit the metal bed and he groaned in pain, still coughing. “Thanks for *cough* nothing, jackass *cough*.”

Ren pulled the tailgate closed with great difficulty while the wind blew his thick black hair everywhere. He probably had a hard time seeing too. Closing his eyes, Hux didn’t expect Ren to reply so he laid there bleeding to death and gasping for air in the bed of Phasma’s truck. He wouldn’t have been able to focus on what Ren said anyway. When he finally managed to catch his breath, he opened his eyes. Ren sat in the truck bed still, much to his surprise, staring at the abandoned school building that disappeared behind them. Hux tried to sit up but Ren quickly reached out to keep him down. “You need to stop moving. You’ll lose more blood.” He shouted over the wind.

“I’m going to lose blood either way. Don’t we have bandages?” Hux shouted back before he really had a chance to think about it.

The wind was too strong to put a bandage on properly and stopping now when they knew of at least one prowler in the area was just fucking stupid. Hux closed his eyes again, almost drifting off when Ren shoved something into his shoulder. Shouting in pain, Ren ignored him and tried to carry on a conversation with him. “Did you actually aim at that Prowler?” He inquired, wrapping the cloth he pressed into hux’s wound to better hold itself steady.

Hux glowered at Ren. “Yes I fucking aimed at it! I don’t know if you knew this or not  _ Kylo Ren _ , but I am a trained sniper. I should hope I can hit a target a couple feet from me.” When Ren just stared back at him unimpressed, he closed his eyes again taking a deep calming breath as the pain receded. “Speaking of...where’s Millicent?”

“Millicent?”

“Yes. My sniper rifle. Her name is Millicent, are you sitting on her?” 

Ren huffed in amusement, pointing to the other side of Hux. 

“Leave me alone. I’m going to sleep.” He grumbled, pulling the rifle closer to his side.

Despite the numerous and jarring bumps, Hux had no difficulty passing out.

\-------

When he woke up, he realized the truck was parked and Ren was gone. Did they just fucking leave him?! He thought about shouting for them when he heard laughter. A lot of unfamiliar laughter. “Are you threatening me, princess?”

“I do believe ‘touch me again and I’ll rip your fingers off one at a time’ is about as pure of a threat as you can get.” Phasma sang with venom dripping from her mockingly sweet voice. 

Hux shivered from it but the laughter started up again. These people were stupid to mess with Phasma and Ren. Although it did sound like a lot of them. Checking to see if Millicent was still next to him, which she was, Hux grabbed a hold of the rifle and rolled onto his stomach silently. He inched his way to the back window of the truck and lifted himself enough to look through it. Both windows in the truck had been busted out, making it easy for him to see about 40 feet ahead of the truck where there was a shittily constructed road block. About five large, dirty men, two with assault rifles in their hands, formed a half circle around the front of Phasma and Ren. They weren’t taking the road block seriously, judging by their slack stances.

“Hey wait a sec…” One of the men scratched at his unruly beard and walked up to Ren, pushing him in the shoulder with the barrel of his rifle. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

Uh oh…Hux noticed Ren’s shoulders become ridged, but these idiots didn’t know when to quit.

“Come on Grant, We don’t give a fuck who this guy is.” The bald man to ‘Grant’s’ left groaned.

“Yeah I know you. You’re Kylo Ren right? The hit guy for that creepy old bastard Snoke.” ‘Grant’ burst into fits of laughter. “See Jack. I told you the guy wasn’t some kind of superhuman monster.”

“Not likely.” Jack, the other rifle owner, looked Ren over suspiciously. “If he really was Kylo Ren, we’d all be dead.” 

Grant waved him off and took another step closer to Ren, making him step back. “No matter, there’s a bounty on his head and we got him.”

“I thought the bounty was on Ben Solo?” The biggest of the men scratched his head, earning himself the backhand of ‘Jack.’

“It’s the same guy you dumbass.” Jack hissed.

“Oh yeah! I heard of this clown. Killed his old man to be Snoke’s bitch.”

That did it. 

Ren took advantage of Grant’s close proximity and kicked his kneecap in. Hux cringed at the loud snap and sharp scream of pain coming from Grant as he toppled to the ground. In the time it took Jack to raise his assault rifle to fire at Ren, Phasma had shot him in the head. Hux grabbed ahold of the top of the truck to lift himself up and help, but then he saw Phasma back up a few steps...just...watching. Grinning, he jumped out of the truck and walked towards them. He wanted to watch Ren get his ass handed to him too.

Ren picked up the rifle and threw it towards Phasma, who caught it easily. Hux blinked a few times, not really believing what he was seeing. The other men were now attacking Ren, or at least trying to. Every punch that did land on Ren, only made him angrier and far more brutal. It was enjoyable to watch Ren tear them apart by himself. He had to admit that. “Should we uh…”

“No.” Phasma snapped, seemingly unimpressed by the burly man Ren sent flying past them. He growled and picked himself up off of the ground. Noticing the assault rifle near Jack’s body, he lunged for it. Phasma sighed as if it were an annoyance and shot him in the back of the head. Apparently, he forgot she was there.

“He’s obviously handling himself… I mean because of the noise.” Hux rubbed his jaw and cringed from the loud clatter of metal. 

“Shooting would be louder.” 

Hux shrugged his shoulders. She had a point. “Did either of you check to see if there was actually a road beyond that pile of junk?”

Phasma glanced up at the makeshift road block, her eyes widening. “No…”

Hux groaned, shaking his head at no one in particular. The pile of junk was unstable at best so he couldn’t climb over it. Muttering under his breath about useless risks, he walked along the barricade heading towards it’s end to see past it. From behind him he heard something (he presumed one of the bandits) slam into the scrap metal pile and the vibrations moved down the wall. If Ren wasn’t careful he’d knock the whole thing down. Maybe then he wouldn’t have to walk the whole 20 feet length of the wall, but he was never that lucky. 

Reaching the end of the wall, Hux groaned looking past it. Of course there was no road. Why the fuck would there be a road? Who needs roads? They could just walk clear across the country with countless Prowlers and Flesh bags everywhere. They wouldn’t be interested in eating three perfectly healthy and alive people walking right by them. As fucking if! They couldn’t walk to Vegas... “Phasma, we have a problem.” He shouted, still staring out into the large canyon behind the pile of garbage used as a barricade.

She didn’t respond but he assumed the loud clattering thud that reverberated down the scrap metal wall was Ren’s response of ‘be there in a minute’. So he waited, the foul, dust ridden air blew against his coat making him glad he brought it. April was such a chilly month. Scanning the canyon before him, he saw that there used to be a bridge that ran across. The bandits probably assumed it would be clever to destroy it and any other way over the canyon. That meant that going around was going to either be too time consuming or impossible. There was no way to get the truck over the canyon without a bridge. If they needed the truck, which they did, going around was the only answer. 

“Heh, So they blew it up…” Phasma commented from his right. “Well that sucks.”

Hux turned to his left when he heard Ren’s footsteps. “Feel better?”

Ren huffed, blood dripping from his chin. “Yes.”

Hux took a second, just a second, to look at Ren’s face. He truly looked happier; his eyes open wide and alert, his breathing calm and relaxed, his lips parted, painted with blood and curled at the corners. “Obviously.” Returning his attention to Phasma he cleared his throat. “Is there a way around?”

“Yeah, but you’re not going to like it.” She pointed out towards a thin line out about fifty yards away. “That is a bridge...I’ve only gotten a Motorcycle over it though...The truck might be too much weight.”

“I’m sure we can hijack another truck. These assholes had to ‘ve left something over there.” Ren muttered.

“Snoke has a small restocking settlement just north of here above Omaha. We should stop there if we can’t find a new truck.” Phasma stated, already walking towards the bridge.

Hux did agree. The truck would need gas soon anyway. A new vehicle was the best bet. “Alright. Let’s go then.” This was going to be a long walk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah that was a short chapter. Yes it was XD
> 
> Sorry I was done. This chapter kicked my butt. I swear I'll make a longer chapter next time.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave Kudo's, comments, bookmarks or drop me a message on Tumblr (I have the same name on there) I love to hear from you. Thank you!


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